Lasting apparatus.



lVl. BROCK.

LASTlNG APPARATUS.

APPLiCATlON FILED DEC.18.1914.

Patented July 9, 1918..

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MATTHIAS BROCK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEWJERSEY, A COR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LASTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July a, 1918.

Application filed December 18, 1914. Serial No. 877,985.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, Ma'r'rnms BnooK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain Improvements in Lasting Apparatus, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specified tion, like reference characters on the drawings indicatinglike parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to shoe machines, particularly to machines forlasting shoes, and has special applicability to the lasting of the toesthereof. An embodiment of the invention shown by way of exemplificationas combined with the gtoe' lasting head of a lasting machine of the typefully described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,018,477,granted on my application, February 27, 1912; In the use of machines ofthis type for lasting the toes of shoes, it is usual to employ a handtool known as a retarder to hold the margin of the upper stockfrictionally upon the toe embracing wipers and allow it to slip orrender under tension over the edge of the wipers as they are raised tostretch the upper up the side faces of the toe of the last, and astheywipe the upper over the edge of the shoe bottom on to the feather of theinnersole. A. tool commonly used comprises a handleand a platesecured atright angles to the-handle, and having an edge that may be pressedagainst the upper. Sometimes, also,a-lever is employed to carry theretarder and to assist in forcing it against the upper. In the use ofsuch a tool, however, it is possible and in fact frequently happens,that the upper is held too tightly with the result that it is eithertorn or the tip seam is bent or bowed. tow rd the toe of the shoe by theexcessive strain.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mechanism which willrender it practically impossible for the operator, however inattentiveor unskilled he may be, to apply an excessive tension on the upper,while, at the same time, he will be enabled to get upon the upper allthe tension that is desirable from the standpoint of good lasting.

One important feature of the invention consists in a device which isconstructed and arranged to engage the upper and press it against theWipers, combined with means by which the tension that can be applied tothe upper is limited to an amount which the upper will safely bear. Inthe construction shown the retarder comprises stock engaging memberswhich are movably mounted upon a carrier shaped to conform somewhat tothe contour of the shoe, the members having only a frictional engagementwith the carrier. As the retarder is pressed against the upper,therefore, the stock will be held against the wiper until the strainupon the stock overcomes the friction between the movable members andthe carrier.

In accordance with another feature of the invention the stock engagingmembers are movable independently of one another and when the tensionadjacent to a given movable member becomes excessive this member willmove and relieve the tension at that point so that-the strain upondifferent p0rtions of the-upper is equalized and distributed with nodanger of an excessive tension being applied to any particular portion.In the construction shown, the movable niembers present to the work atype of rolling bearing, said members having the form of cylindricalbead-like bodies which are strung or threaded upon a carrierwhich is inthe form of a resilient loop and is of a shape to bring the bead-likemembers into engagement with the upper around the curved contour of thetoe.

Preferably the adjacent ends of the beads or cylinders inter-en a e orare otherwise articulated with each other, as, for example, by aconcavev end on one bead fitting over a convex end on an adjacent one.As a result the engaging face of the retarder is substantiallyacontinuous line extending around the toe and may, if desired, beccextensve with the wipers.

During the vertical movement of the wipers relatively to the last, abovereferred to, the upper is being stretched from the body port-iontoward'the edge, but after the wipers begin to close and bend the upperover the feather of the inner-sole no substantial further stretching cantake place, and the additional stock required to cover the feather mustcome from above and render down across the edge of the wipers. If theretarder continues to resist this movement of the upper with the sameforce as when the upper was being stretched up there is danger ofinjuring the stock, and the upper is unnecessarily strained. Anotherfeature of this invention provides means to meet this situation. Asillustrated the retarder is mounted for movement toward the heel of theshoe and the upper stock is therefore allowed to render over the edge ofthe wipers andis laid down upon the feather of the innersole. Inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of this feature of theinvention the material required to be wiped over the feather isautomatically supplied to the wipers without excessive strain beingapplied thereto. For this purpose means is provided for giving theretarder a movement toward the heel of the shoe, which is connected withthe wiper closing mechanism. Preferably this movement of the retarder iscoincident with but in excess of the rearward movement of the wipers,and, in theory, should be substantially twice that movement of thewipers since the movement of a point upon the margin of the upper whichis frictionally held by the retarder against the upper face of thewipers is twice the movement of the edges of the wipers themselves overthe shoe bottom.

The wipers, of course, have a closing movement at the sides of the toe,while the retarder is substantially rigid laterally. At the sides of thetoe, therefore, the movement of the wipers is in excess of the movementof the retarder so that during the closing movement of the wipers overthe shoe bottom at the sides of the toe there is a substantiallyincreased tension applied to the upper transversely of 'the toe, whichtends to maintain the tip seam straight and results inimproved lastingof the toe.

As a further feature of the invention the loop of the retarder which isof resilient material is so constructed that its ends can be adjustedlaterally of the shoe, whereby the size and shape of the retarder may bemodified and the retarder is thereby adapted for use on wide and narrowtoes and on toes of various shapes and sizes.

In lasting shoes having pronounced right and left characteristics, it isimportant that the retarder member shall have a contour correspondingclosely to the contour of the toe portion of the shoe bottom whether itbe that of a right shoe or of a left shoe.

According to another feature of this invention, the retarder is giventhe contour, for example, of a right shoe and is constructed andarranged to be removed from its holder, turned over and replaced thereinto adapt it for use upon a left shoe.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully fromthe following will be pointed out in the ap'pended claims.-

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the head of a bed lasting machinehaving an embodiment of the present invention incorporated therein, 1

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a modification of the construction shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the construction shown in Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a detail partly in section of the presser members on theretarder; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a hand implement embodying features ofthis invention.

In Fig; 1 is represented the head of a lasting machine of the type shownand described in the patent referred to. This head has a depending stem1 which can be raised relatively to the frame 3 and a shoe supported onthe'usual toe rest for the operation of wiping up the sides of the toeof a shoe, and can be depressed for ironing down the stock on the shoebottom. The head is provided with wipers 2 which are mounted on carriers4. The carriers are arranged to be advanced and closed to carry theWipers over the shoe bottom by means of a lever 6 fulcrum-ed at 8, andhaving connection by a link 10 with a rod 12 (broken away) which ismounted for movement longitudinally of its axis, and carries at theend-next the wipers a cross bar 14:. Each end of the cross barv 14 ispivoted at 16 to a link connecting it with one of the wiper carriers 1.The direction of movement of the wiper carriers is deter mined by slots18 and 20 in the carriers 4, which cooperate with relatively stationaryrolls 21 mounted in the head of the machine and engaging the said slots.The inclination of the slots .18 and 20 is such that the movement of thebar 12, which is communicated to the wipers is divided into two components, one of which provides the advancing movement of the wipers andthe other their closing movement,- These movements are substantiallyequal and hence the advancing movement of the wipers is only about halfthe movement of the rod '12. A slide 30 is connected at 32 to the rod 12and is therefore moved with the wipers longitudinally of the shoe but ata rate substantially twice the corresponding movement of the wipers. Atthe end of the slide 30 which is nearest the shoe cars 34: are provided,in which slots 36 are formed extending lengthwise of the shoe. A pin 38mounted in the slots 36 forms the fulcrum of a lever 40 which ex tendslongitudinally of the shoe in a position to be conveniently grasped andmanipulated by the operator. A member 42 is mounted on the lever 40 andis held in longitudinal adjustment thereon by a set screw which a rod 48passes. The ends of a loop 50 of resilient wire may, as shown in Fig. 1,be bent around the rod 48 to form a pivotal connection therewith and toform a yielding connection between theloop and-its end portions whichare turned outwardly to engage apertures 52 formed in plates 54 mountedon the rod 48 at each side of the member 42, and having at their upperends screw and slot adjusting means 56 for the purpose of varying thenormal inclination of the loop relatively to the plane of the solebottom. Upon the loop 50 a series of bead-like presser members 60 arethreaded or strung. This arrangement constitutes means to be manipulatedby the lever to force the upper against the wipers, and also, ifdesired, against the forward faces of the wiper carriers, during thelasting operation. The members 60 may be substantially cylinders to forma roller bearing on the upper stock. The members 60 may haveapproximately spherical curved working faces forming a ball bearing onthe upper stock and producing separate closely adjacent lines of strainas the retarder is used. The adjacent ends of the members 60 may berounded, as shown in Fig. 2, or the adjacent ends may be articulated byforming them respectively concave and convex so that one may fit intothe other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. By'this construction the members60 present a substantially continuous line or surface to engage theupper.

l/Vhen not in use the lever 40 may be turned forwardly over the head ofthe machine about'the pivot 38 and, to prevent the lever from going sofar as to be out of convenient reach of the operator, a stop 62 may beprovided which engages the top plate of the machine, and supports thedevice at an inclination in which the handle is conveniently accessible.

To provide for lateral adjustment of the ends of the retarder loop toaccommodate the retarder to different widths of shoes and to differentsizes of toes the construction shown in Fig. 2 may be employed. Here theends of the retarder loop are straight and are seated in holes 53 inblocks 55 which are threaded to engage right and left-threaded portionsof a rod 49. The rod 49 is provided centrally with a thumb head 57 bywhich it may be rotated to adjust the blocks, and hence the ends of theretarder loop equally and oppositely laterally of the shoe. T 0 providefor adjustment of the inclination of the retarder relatively to theplane of the sole the plates 54 in this construction are extendedforwardly, and a rod 61 is passed through the forward extensions andthrough ears (33 upon the blocks To retain the ends of the retarder inthe blocks and yet provide for their ready removal to enable theretarder to be reversed for use upon the toes of either right or leftshoes, spring plungers 65, Fig. 3, are provided which engage notches ordepressions 67 in the ends of the retarder loop and tend to maintain theretarder in operativeposition but permit it to be readily withdrawn forreversal.

In the use of the machine the shoe is jacked, the hold-down 64 isapplied, and the lever 40 is brought from its inoperative position tothe position shown in Fig. 1. The loop 50 is normally held at a downwardinclination by the engagement of the outturned endportions 52 or by therod (31, Fig. 2, with the plates 54, and this angle may be varied tosuit different conditions by means of the screw and slot adjustment Whenthe head of the machine of this type is lowered to bring the plane ofthe wipers somewhat below the plane of the innersole, the end or bightof the loop 50, by reason of the downwardly inclined position of theloop, engages the upper first, and, as the lever 40 is depressed, forcesthe toe portion of the upper over and down upon the wipers at thepointof the toe and clamps it at the toe against the forward faces ofthe wiper carriers. As the head of the machine is raised, therefore,with the loop 50 pressing the upper down upon the wipers, and, ifdesired, also clamping it against the wiper carriers, a strong tensionis applied to the upper longitudinally. This tensioning action, however,is limited to the amount of force necessary to cause the rolls 60 torotate upon the loop 50, thereby rendering it practically impossible totear or overstretch the stock, even if the operator,by carelessness orlack of judgment, applies excessive pressure to the handle 40. Theamount of tension he can get on the upper is, therefore, limitedautomatically by the operation of the members 60 to the strain. whichthe upper can safely hear. The position of the loop 50 longitudinally ofthe machine may be varied by the operator to suit different conditionsof work by reason of the slot and pin connection 36, 38 and the size andshape of the loop may be varied I by the lateral adjustment 57.

As soon as pressure is applied by the member 50 to the upper there issufficient friction at the said pin and slot connection so thatconsiderable pressure may be applied to the work before the pin willslide in the slot, and when the pin 38 reaches the rear end of the slotstill greater pre may be applied to the work by the love At the sametime, as the lever 40 is de u'essed and the lasting head raised, thearea of contact of the loop 50 spreads from the point of the toe towardthe sides of the toe until '1 practically the whole toe portion is heldagainst the wipers and against the adjacent edgesof the carriers 40. Theresiliency of the loop 50, together with the capacity of the members 20to turn before excessive tension is applied to the upper at any givenpoint, prevents the operator, however unskilled or inattentive he maybe, from so straining the toe portion of the upper that the toe tip seamis bowed or the upper torn,

, upper material below the wipers excessive and unnecessary strain isapt to be given to the lasted upper, and there is a great tendency alsoto erumple the feather of the innersole. The stock for this purposeshould, therefore, be taken from the material above the wipers which, bythe retarder of usual construction, is held hard down upon the top ofthe wipers. By the connection 30 between the retarder and the wiperoperating mechanism, movement of the retarder toward the heel of theshoe is effected and the upper stock is therefore allowed to render overthe edge of the wipers, and is laid upon the feather of the i-nnersole.To effect this result without taking material from under the wipers'themovement of the free edge of the upper and of the retarder should besubstantially twice that of the movement of the wipers themselves. Thisis the case in the described construction as the advance movement of thewipers is only about half of the movement of the rod 12, the fullmovement of which is transmitted to the retarder. The amount of movementof the retarder may be varied and controlled by the handle 40 and, ifless than twice t-he movement of the wiper is permitted to the retarder,additional tension will be applied to the portion of'the upper which iswiped into engagement with the feather. This operation is sometimesnecessary to remove completely the wrinkles from the upper and toproduce good lasting over the feather of the innersole.

At the point of the toe, the retarder moves with the wipers as theyadvance, but at a greater rate, thereby tending to reduce the strain onthe upper at the tip of the toe which is liable, if carried to excess,to bow the tip. At the side of the toe, on the other hand, the retarderhas no movement inwardly corresponding to the closing movement of thewipers and, therefore, the closment of the wipers, whereas, during therai mg of the lasting head-vert cally, the strain upon the upper is veryI largely longitudinally of the shoe.

In Fig. .5 is shown a hand tool which .embodies many of the advantageousfeatures of this invention. The loop is similar to' that shown in Fig.1, and is mounted in a: similar manner upon a rod 48 mounted in a yoke70, provided with a handle 72. The members 74 may be similar to themembers of Fig. 1, but are shown in Fig. "2 as being in the form ofcylinders with adjacent ends chamfered or rounded so that the area ofcontact at their ends is reduced, at least, the point of contaet'isbrought nearer to the center so that they rotate more freely relativelyto each other uponthe loop 50. In operation this loop is held inposition. with the members 74, pressed against the upper materials .tohold them against the upper surfaceof the wipers, and the machine ismanipulated in the same manner as has been described in connection withthe constructions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Theresiliency of the loop 50and the capacity of the members 74 each to rotate individually upon theloop 50, in case there is excessive strain applied to any portion of theupper,

render it substantially impossible for the operator to overstrain theupper when using this tool, and a better lasted toeis the resuit. InFlg. 5 the loop .50 is shown as wider where it is attached to itssupport than in Fig. 1, and this adapts it to bebrought down over thetoe of the last when the wipers are depressed, and to hold the upperagainst the wipers during their upward movement, first at the point ofthe toe, and then, as the wipers ascend, to extend its action toward theside of the toe.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. Toe lastingapparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipers, a carrier, saidwipers and carrier being constructed and arranged for relative movementtoward and from each other, and stock engaging means mounted upon saidcarrier and comprising more than two' independent movable membersadapted to engage the upper and press it against the wipers, saidmembers being constructed andarranged to move with the upper. in thedirection of strain when the tension becomes excessive.

2. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipers, asupport, a loop of resilient material mounted on the support, and aseries of separately .movs

able upper contacting members mounted upon the loop and adapted tocontact with and press the upper over and down upon the wipers duringthe lasting operation.

3. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipersconstructed and arranged to be advanced and closed over the edge of theshoe bottom, a carrier constructcd and arranged to be forced toward thewipers, and a series of three or more members movably mounted upon thecarrier for holding the upper frictionally against the wipers, each ofsaid series being adapted to move upon the carrier when the tension uponthe upper adjacent to a given movable member becomes excessive, wherebythe strain upon that portion of the upper is diminished and the strainupon the upper as a whole is equalized and distributed.

l. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe embracing wipers;and an upper holding device comprising an operating member and a bowedwire provided with an upper engaging member constructed and arranged togrip the upper upon the top face of the wipers and adapted to turn tofacilitate the slipping of the upper between it and the wipers.

5. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe embracing wipersadapted to close over the end of a toe; and an upper holding devicecomprising an operating member and a member constructed and arranged tooverlie the upper upon the top face of the wipers and provided with aplurality of upper engaging rolls mounted to turn in directions normalto the lines of strain on the upper.

6. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination toe embracing wipers;and an upper holding device comprising an operating member, a wire bowedinto the shape of the edge face of the wipers, and a series ofarticulated rolls on the bowed wire to grip the upper upon the top faceof the wipers.

7. Toe lastin a aratus havin in combination, toe embracing wipers, andan upper holding device comprising an operating member and a carriermember constructed and arranged to overlie the upper upon the top faceof the wipers and having rolling bearings on the upper.

8. Toe lasting apparatus comprising a retarder in the form of aresilient loop; a support for the ends of the loop and means foradjusting the ends of the loop toward and from each other to vary thelateral extent of the loop.

9. Tee lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe embracing wipers;and an upper holding device pivotally supported in front of the wipersand having an operating arm extending backwardly over the shoe, and anupper engaging member supported at its ends and bowed to extend aboutthe toe,

said upper engaging member and operating arm being constructed andarranged for relative adjustment to vary their normal angular relation.

10. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, a toe lasting head, alever mounted on the lasting head for movement longitudinally of theshoe, a yoke adj ustably secured to said lever, the arms of the yokebeing disposed downwardly, a resilient loop mounted at its ends on thearms of said yoke, and a series of movable upper engaging membersmounted upon said loop.

11. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipers andmeans for holding down the upper of a shoe toe upon the wipers tofacilitate the application of lasting tension to the shoe upper at thetoe during upward movement of the wipers,

comprising a loop, and a series of separate movable bead-like membersthreaded upon the loop and adapted to contact with the upper and permitthe upper to slip under them when excessive tension is applied to aportion of the upper adjacent to any given member.

12. Tee lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe supporting means,toe lasting wipers movable upwardly relatively to the shoe; and meansfor holding the upper of a shoe toe upon the wipers to facilitate theapplication of lasting tension to the shoe upper at the toe duringupward movement of the wipers, comprising a curved carrier, and a seriesof cylindrical members each having one end concave and the other convexand which are strung upon said carrier and disposed so that the convexend of one fits into the concave end of the next whereby a substantiallycontinuous line of contact is provided between the upper material andthe curved series of cylindrical members.

13. Too lasting apparatus having, in combination, a vertically movablehead, wipers carried thereby, operating means for the wipers to closeand advance them'over the edge of the shoe bottom, a retarder adapted tohold the upper against the wipers during the vertical movement of thehead, and means for moving the retarder toward the heel end of the shoeas the wipers move over the shoe edge.

14. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, a vertically movablehead, wipers and operating means therefor to close and advance them overthe edge of the shoe bottom, retarding means for holding the upper downupon the wipers during their upward movement, and means for moving theretarding means toward the heel of the shoe at a rate in excess of themovement of the wipers over the shoeedge.

15. Toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, a vertically movablehead, wipers and operating means therefor to close and advance them overthe edge of the shoe bottom, retarding means for holding the upperagainst the wipers at the end and sides of the toe, means for movingtheretarder toward the heel of the shoe during the closing movement of theWipers to prevent excessive longitudinal strain upon the upper, andmeans for increasing the lateral strain upon the upper in the directionof the tip seam during the closing movement of the wipers.

16. A toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipers,a support a retarder comprising an open loop shaped to the contour ofone toe of a pair, and connections between the loop and the supportwhereby the loop may be removed and replaced the other side up so as tofit the other shoe of the pair.

17. A toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipers,a support, a loop of resilient material constructed and arranged tocooperate with the wipers in lasting the shoe upper and having notchedends adapted to engage the support, and spring pins mounted in thesupport and adapted to engage the notched ends of the loop to maintainthe loop frictionally in operative position but permitting its readyremoval.

18. A toe lasting apparatus comprising a yoke, a rod mounted in the endsof the yoke, blocks mounted on the rod, a retarder having its endsseated in the blocks, and means for adjusting the blocks toward and fromeach other to vary the size of the retarder.

19. A toe lasting apparatus having, in combination, toe lasting wipersand a re tarder comprising a member shaped to embrace a toe andconstructed and arranged to clamp the upper upon the wipers, andsupporting and operating means constructed and arranged to hold the sideportion of the clamping members secured in different po sitions ofadjustment from and toward each other for differences in sizes of shoes.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. I

MATTHIAS BROOK.

Witnesses:

EVERETT W. VARNEY, HARLOW M. DAvIs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

